Solar Panel Project

It's been years since I have been fascinated by the use of solar panels as a source of electrical power, however, it was only about two years ago when the cost of solar panels have dropped that I was able to buy one. Unfortunately, I was only able to use it when we transferred to our new home.

The Solar panel that I have, (Fig 1) is rated 20 Watts (W), with a rated output voltage of 18 Volts (V) and Current a current rating of 1.2 Amperes (A). Given this, I only intend to use this system to charge a small motorcycle battery, (Fig 2) rated 12V with current capacity of 10 Ampere hours (Ah).

Fig 2. 12V battery and test Charger

As of the moment, I haven;t bought nor build any form of charger yet, but has installed the system to conduct an experiment on how many LED lights it can power and the time it would take to drain the battery and for it to be charged by the solar panel.

Running the set-up for a few days have so far provided good results, except for the fact that since it's the rainy season, with often cloudy skies, charging the battery is taking much longer compared before.

Fig 3. The 9W LED bulb

 Anyhow, the system as of the moment is powering three LED light bulbs with one rated 9W, (Fig 3) and the other two, rated 5W each, with a total current drain of +/- (0.75mA+(0.42mA*2) = 1.58A, and  is the lighting that we use as "standing lights" from around 8PM to 6AM or for about 10hours each night.

Currently I'm canvassing for a second Solar Panel, there is one being offered online by Lazada, however this has a much lower capacity than the one I currently have, a much larger capacity is also available that I'm currently contemplating in buying, but what I do want to have, is a solar panel very much like this.

Aside from the panel, I'm also looking for another battery that I could use to increase capacity, and if the cost fits the budget, I might be able to get one within the month, If not, maybe before the end of the year.

Fig 4. LED Light Switches

For the Solar battery charger, I also found one online, but I'm currently contemplating of building one of the projects posted by  Swagatam Majumdar in his website Electronic Circuit Projects in the near future. For now, the current set-up should suffice.

Will post more as this project progresses.

Have a blessed day!